Assistant law professor dies at age 31

Ramzi Nasser, a University of Dayton law professor since 2004, died Sept. 10 at the age of 31 after a struggle with cancer.

A prayer service was held Sept. 13 at the Riverside Masjid in Riverside, Calif. Burial was at Montecito Memorial Park in nearby Loma Linda.

Nasser is survived by his parents, a brother and a sister.

“Professor Nasser loved being a law professor,” Lisa Kloppenberg, UD School of Law dean, said. “He was extremely dedicated to the poor, particularly those needing representation in the criminal justice system. He helped build a criminal law clinical course at the law school.”

A memorial service will be held on campus at a later date. A scholarship will be established in his memory.

Before coming to the UD School of Law, Nasser was a trial and appeals attorney for the federal defenders of San Diego, where he represented low-income people in federal court from arraignment to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nasser was also a federal court law clerk for two years for James Giles, the chief judge of the eastern district of Pennsylvania.